CarComplaints.com Notes: Most people need a car that shifts gears & coil springs that don't shred tires. The Taurus fails in that respect.
The 2003 Ford Taurus has major issues with the transmission failing. Typically the 2003 Taurus transmission failure costs $2,000 to fix by about 90k-100k miles. Not good.
Adding insult to injury, the 1999-2003 Taurus also has a huge problem with coil springs breaking which can puncture or even shred tires while driving.
The US government spent THREE YEARS (2008-2011) investigating the 2002-2003 Taurus coil springs. Although Taurus/Sable from earlier years were recalled, ultimately the NHTSA did not force a recall. They determined that because there had been no deaths & very few bad crashes & injuries, the broken coil springs defect was no big deal & not a safety defect. Tell that to all the owners who had close calls...
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
6 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
9 / 1
Average Mileage:
88,616 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus sedan ses. The contact stated that while the brakes were depressed the engine revved and the vehicle accelerated unexpectedly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 100,000 and the current mileage was 119,000. The VIN was unknown.
First time we noticed it I was accelerating to get on the freeway and the throttle pedal felt like it was sticking at a point about 1/4 throttle then it would work normally past that point. This occurred on several occasions that day. After that occurrence two days later we were on our way home and while cruising at 70mph on I-40, with the cruise control on, I accelerated to pass another vehicle and I felt the same incident as before. The feeling on the throttle is as follows: Hard to press until the pedal reaches the 1/4 point then a snap and the pedal moves down freely. By coincidence two days after arriving home I came upon the msn report of Ford Taurus throttle problems. I will now be taking my car to the local dealer to report this problem. Thank you
Pulled into traffic just before stop light, car continued to accelerate, at stop light put car in to neutral, engine continued to race, turned car off and back on still continued to accelerate, pulled into traffic as I could not pull out of traffic continue to shift to neutral, in and out till could pull over and call tow truck. Breaks were able to control car but engine over heated. Took to local dealership where was told it was a broken/stuck cruise control cable and that engine overheating had cracked radiator cap.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact stated that while driving 75 mph with the curse control engaged, the vehicle would not decelerate while braking. The contact had to shift the vehicle into neutral in order for the vehicle to slow down. The contact then shut the vehicle off. The contact did not call the manufacturer or take the vehicle to a dealer. The failure mileage was 160,000.
Sudden unintended acceleration occurred while driving at 50 mph. After applying brakes, I shifted into neutral, stopped the car and shut off the engine. The car was towed to a Ford dealer for service. The dealer found that the cruise control cable had broken and caused the throttle to stay fully open.
- Minneapolis, MN, USA
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Vehicle made noise while driving on flat ground. Asked passenger if they heard the noise and they did not. Car continued to drive approximately 2 more miles. Car started to fail while driving uphill. The car made a revving sound and then stopped moving. Turned flashers on and pulled over to the side of the road. Scared that car would not park. Tried to change gears and vehicle went into park. Still scared so hand brake was applied. Called father and uncle to move car. Car had to be pushed backwards down the hill into a parking space at a secondary school. Next day, car was towed to residence. Vehicle will be towed to transmission specialist in February for diagnosis. Had to worry about getting to work to even pay for repair. Scared to imagine the cost.
I was driving eastbound on I-90 (mass. Pike) in Massachusetts, about 60 miles outside of boston, with my fiancee in the passenger seat. Road conditions were ideal. Temperature was in the high 80S. Sun was out, about 4 P.M. in the afternoon. Suddenly, the rpms went through the roof, but the car did not slow or speed. I tested again and same thing happened. I signaled right and was able to move over one lane and again onto the shoulder. Once parked, the car would not go into gear. I just got revving in park, drive, reverse, lower gears, etc. Transmission failure. No power to the ground. Repair costs came to $2,000. I would consider this a safety problem since I was not able to control the speed of my car on a busy highway. I was lucky enough to have space to my rear and right when the incident occured, but had I been boxed in, there certainly would have been an accident. It appears this is a common problem with the '03 Taurus.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. The contact was driving approximately 20 mph, attempting to park the vehicle when the brake pedal was engaged; yet, there was an unintended acceleration. The vehicle failed to stop and crashed into four unoccupied vehicles and small trees. The contact sustained no personal injuries; however, there were three bystanders that sustained minor injuries. A police report was filed. The front end of the vehicle was severely damaged. The vehicle was towed to a collision center. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was unavailable.
Vehicle speed control: Linkage 2003 Ford Taurus station wagon; 3.0L DOHC a black plastic connector along the throttle cable under the hood became disconnected from a gray plastic piece. The black plastic piece became stuck against the edge of the gray piece, causing the throttle to stay wide open & undesired acceleration & some panic. It appears that this could be repaired by simply inserting 2 screws to secure the 2 plastic pieces together.
On February 5, 2010 my 2003 Ford Taurus caught fire at 1:00 P.M. parked under our car porch and there was no one in the car and no one had driven the car for 5 hours on Saturday morning. The shreveport fire department was call to keep the house from burning down with the car. The city fire marshall said the fire was caused by the cruise control switch. I told him no one uses the cruise control in that car because we just go in town and there is a red light at every corner. He stated that he had been to many other fires just like this one and it was always the cruise control switch. My husband is emotionally disabled and I nearly had a nervous breakdown just the sight that our investment was burning up and there was nothing we could do. I have call the fire marshall for a written copy of his report. I have taken pictures of the vehicle and their is some minor damages and lots of smoke damage to done to the house.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Taurus. While driving 45 mph, the vehicle unexpectedly accelerated as the contact turned onto a road. She attempted to stop the vehicle, but was unsuccessful. She was finally able to shut off the engine and the vehicle was towed. The tow truck driver stated that a cable had become stuck, which caused the failure. The failure recurred approximately 3-4 weeks later. The contact performed the procedure the mechanic showed her in regards to the failure and continued driving. The contact's son explained that it was the cruise control cable that was stuck and he proceeded to disconnect the cable. Ford informed her that her VIN was not included in the cruise control recall. The current mileage was 75,300 and failure mileage was 74,000. Updated 04-08-08
Dt the vehicle surged forward when in park. Contacted dealer, they checked it, and said was a sensor problem. They had to have an order to fix it. Did not say from who or why. Had not contacted the manufacturer. This happened on August 12, 2005.
While coming to a stop the caller hit the brake and the vehicle surged forward. It happened when vehicle was in park as well. Also, there was a sudden loss of power and rough idle when on the highway or city streets. The caller said there was poor gas mileage. Tool vehicle to dealer 7 times, on February 11, 2005, July 6, July 22, 2005, July 27, 2005, and August 12, 2005. Called the manufacturer, and manufacturer said they have had this problem in other vehicles. Dealer said they could not fix the problem and someone form the manufacturer will get back to him.
2003 Ford Taurus problems with sudden acceleration.** answer required***. while parking the vehicle accelerated suddenly and jumped over two curbs. The vehicle came to a stop after hitting a flower pot which became lodged under the vehicle.
Owner was driving in a parking lot at approximately 5 mph and suddenly the vehicle began to accelerate. Owner drove into a large plant which got caught under the vehicle, causing the front of the vehicle to become airborne. This caused damaged under the vehicle and the front bumper. The dealer replaced the iac valve assembly.
Involutary acceleration of car at low speeds while the traction control is engaged due to slippery surfaces. This has happened four times in the last month and, everytime the driver's foot was on the brake pedal and not on the accelerator. The dealer has had the car twice and has not been able to replicate the conditions. Ford Motor Company refuses to take further action.
Consumer complained that the vehicle would continuously accelerate to 200 RPM and causes the engine to overheat. Vehicle had been to the dealer on two occasions, but problem recurred. Dealer contacted the manufacturer, and manufacturer informed that dealer that was the normal characteristic of that vehicle.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Bettendorf, IA, USA